It was a really hot, August day in Birmingham, Ala. During a mid-afternoon break of the National Scouting Report national meeting, I was chatting with a fellow high school scout when the phone rang. “Alan?” a woman’s voice asked. “Yes, how can I help you?” “This is Sonja Thomas,” she said. Her voice was emotional … Read more
National Scouting Report discovered North Central Louisiana area director Mason Alexander 20 years ago at a baseball showcase in Arlington, Texas. A standout pitcher/outfielder at Longview High School, Alexander had been overlooked by college coaches. He had given up hope of playing in college until an NSR scout introduced himself to Alexander’s father, who was … Read more
Bluntly, you are either up here or down there. In college sports recruiting, there is no in-between. In short, high school athletic prospects and their parents can’t survive down there. The only place to be and win an athletic scholarship offer is up here. Enough gobligook. What I am referring to is realizing where you … Read more
National Scouting Report football prospect Jack Braymiller received an early birthday present last month. Braymiller, who turns 16 in late October, received the gift-wrapped present with a bow on top during Boulder (Colo.) High School’s homecoming game on Sept. 18. Playing on Boulder’s special teams, Braymiller was positioned on the left side of the line … Read more
Families of high school athletes wanting to take their game to the college level are in a quandary. How do they make a dream materialize? It’s an unenviable position. Once they make their problem public, however, all sorts of help pops up, mostly from sources which have no clue how recruiting works. That, of course, adds … Read more
Your child tells you he/she wants to play college athletics. Your eyes light up and a huge smile crosses your face. You are so proud of him/her. You desperately want to help your child get recruited and perhaps receive a scholarship. You tell him/her you will do everything possible to help. In fact, you offer … Read more
The bullying started badly and got progressively worse. First came the verbal abuse: teasing and derogatory comments by elementary school classmates. Then came the physical abuse: stuffing into lockers and pushing down flights of stairs in middle school. Classmates even stole her clothes. She reported the bullying to administrators at her Pennsylvania middle school. But, … Read more
First, we watched John and Patrick McEnroe. Now, we enjoy Venus and Serena Williams. In the future, we could see Payton and Jordan Bradley. The Bradley sisters, who recently enrolled with National Scouting Report, are ranked among the Top 10 high school tennis players in Pennsylvania. Payton, a junior, plays No. 1 singles for Downingtown … Read more
David Payne was a logger by trade and he had carved out a nice livelihood for himself, wife Juanita and two daughters in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The first time I saw David was in 2004 and it wasn’t in the woods or at a sawmill. We met one another at a high … Read more
Lost in the din of packed stadiums and arenas coast to coast is the simple yet irrefutable fact that student-athletes must remain academically eligible to participate in college athletics. And as time goes on and NCAA rules stiffen regarding initial eligibility for incoming freshmen as well as for athletes already enrolled, everyone finally may be … Read more
